Fort to Sea Trail (Lewis & Clark)

Activity Notes

Oregon coastal hike:  12.5 miles  with 500 feet elevation gain.  Hiking time about 6 hours.

Meeting place / Time:  Target  parking lot off 185th and US26 in Hillsboro, at west end just across from Starbucks. Carpooling for those vaccinated. Possible pickup at Sunset transit center: contact leader if interested. We will leave at 730AM, so be there 5-10 minutes prior.

Driving distance/time:  80 miles, 90 minutes to Sunset beach recreation area.

The hike  is located just south of Astoria.

The National Park Service’s Fort to Sea Trail, accessible at all times of the year, follows a route that members of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery might have taken in order to commute to the Pacific Ocean.  Much of the trail lies within the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, which includes Sunset Beach State Recreation Site. The trail can be hiked from either end (no fee at Sunset Beach; $10 pass at Fort Clatsop). Hikers will experience dark woods of Sitka spruce, sedge wetlands, cow pastures in the Clatsop Plains, and views up and down the sweeping 16-mile stretch of beach that extends from the mouth of the Columbia to the Necanicum River.

This is is an in and out hike, little elevation, and generally good track.  We start at Sunset beach and  hike to Fort Clatsop and back.